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About us
Graduate School of Motoring aims to equip its students with practical driving skills that will benefit them for the duration of their lives on the road.
We also have a passion for education and innovation and strive to incorporate fun and engaging learning techniques.
We are always encouraging both our students and qualified staff to keep learning and improving their driving skills, and our high standards have seen us selected to deliver road safety initiatives, like the Leighton Contractors Youth Drive Safe program.
As the oldest and largest driving school in Townsville, Graduate School of Motoring is also proud to offer a series of driving education programs that go beyond passing a one-off test (see our training courses).
Our driving trainers all hold a Certificate IV in driving instruction as a minimum qualification, and are a mix of males and females from a variety of backgrounds.
We are also the only driving school north of Brisbane to offer specialised training to people with disabilities in our modified vehicles.
People see below to find out more about Graduate’s team.
Heath Ward
Director/Driver Trainer
Qualifications: MBA, Cert IV in Driving Instruction, Cert IV Workplace Trainer/Assessor
Phone: 0409 611 428
About: Heath has 20 years experience in all facets of the transport industry, which he entered after serving in the Australian Army. He has spent the past eight years in managerial positions and has been heavily involved in workplace training and assessing.
He is currently the northern region representative on the Management Committee for the Australian Driver Trainer’s Association, and is a coach for the new national keys2drive initiative thatrolled out nationally in late 2009.
Anna Nicholls
Director/Occupational Therapist
Qualifications: B Occ Thy (UQ), Grad Dip OH&S (QUT), Driving Assessor (UQ)
Phone: (07) 4772 2323
About: Anna has been involved in driving assessments for the past 10 years for people with disabilities.
Various vehicle modifications can be trialled such as:
- Spinner knobs
- Indicator extenders
- Hand controls
- Left foot accelerator
Anna can conduct driving assessments at any time.
Phone 4772 5191 for bookings and referral forms.
Janai Teys
Administration
Qualifications: Cert III Business Administration Trainee
Phone: (07) 4772 2323
About: Janai joined the team at Graduate in April 2010. Janai previously worked in an administration position within a distribution facility and is enjoying the challenges of the telephones and enquiries about Driving Instruction.
Janai is responsible for all front-of-house administration tasks including appointment bookings, accounts and customer service.
Chantelle Little
Administration
Phone: (07) 4772 2323
About: Chantelle is a Townsville local and is one of two Graduate School of Motoring office administrators. Before joining Graduate, Chantelle worked for 2 years in Administration at an air-conditioning and electrical company.
Janai and Chantelle together run all front of house administration tasks including appointment bookings, accounts and customer services. We welcomed Chantelle to the team in January 2012 and are happy to have her onboard.
Steven Barson
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0413 626 967
About: Steve started his working career as a quantity surveyor but hiding behind a desk talking to himself was not where he wanted to be. He spent a few years operating and instructing heavy machinery on a mining site in Western Australia. In 1980 Steve attended the road safety council in South Australia where he first became a Driver Trainer. This was a great move for Steve and is still a passion of his to this day. He still loves getting out of bed most mornings looking forward to going to work. What better job for a pom! He can whinge at people all day long and still get paid. Steve really feels it is a privilege to be a part of this special stage of so many peoples lives . Being part of the Graduate teams helps because we all have a common goal which is great for him and for you. He believes that with your help we can make a difference. Steve teaches in a manual vehicle.
Angelo Toci
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0439 740 725
About: Angelo’s background is primarily in the heavy construction industry driving various types of heavy machinery, which was followed by a number of years in the tyre industry for Bridgestone.
He also successfully ran a lawnmower and small engine business for eight years prior to gaining qualifications as a driving instructor. Angelo teaches in automatic vehicles.
Paris Baccam
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0434 819 136
About: Paris has lived in Australia since the age of five and has travelled most of the country.
Her career background before teaching was mainly in sales, where she progressed into management roles.
Paris is bilingual and has French influence in her Lao background and enjoys being around people where she can be proactive in teaching.
Paris’ passion for motor sports and cars began at an early age, racing in a homemade billy cart downhill in her family street with the rest the kids in her neighbourhood.
Joanne Stephens
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0402 156 043
About: Jo became a driver trainer in 2001 and is one of our newest trainers to the GSOM team. Jo is proud to have joined a progressive driving school however quick to point out our request for her to do a presentation in front of her peers made her very uncomfortable. Jo says it's just like how some of her students feel as learning to drive can be scary for some however for others it's an exciting time of their life, either way Jo feels using a professional is not only helpful, but a necessity. Jo loves what she does as a driver trainer and says there is no better sense of accomplishment than guiding a beginner student though to become a careful and confident driver.
Lachlan McGillivray
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0419 886 402
About:
Like many Townsvillians Lachlan came here with the ADF and decided to make it home. After spending some time on the road in trucks and seeing too much carnage decided to make the change to driver training, after a couple of years training in heavy vehicles he joins us adding car training to his resume.
Damian Gough
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0488 517 103
About: Hailing from Western Queensland, Damian has lived and worked in remote towns and stations where he's operated and driven a range of machinery, motorbikes and vehicles.
He made the move to Townsville and with his experience with semitrailers and road trains he became a fuel tanker driver for 10 years. After seeing one accident too many, Damian decided that he wanted to spend more time with his family and make a difference within the transport industry.
His passion for motor sports began at a very early age when he mustered cattle on a bike and trekked the countryside competing in endurance races. Damian's favourite lounge room races are the Dakar and World rallies and the V8 Supercars; he volunteered at the inaugural Dunlop Townsville 400.
Damian has studied horticulture, is a keen gardener and has an awesome Bonsai collection. His motto is that you learn something new everyday and he believes that it's a responsibility and not a right that you drive on our roads.
Kyle Vince
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0402646525
About:
Kyle moved to Townsville from New Zealand in 2000. He has successfully run his own business as a trade painter for 8 years.
Kyle is an avid motor sports follower and has been competing in various forms of racing for the last twenty years. He is currently an active member of the Townsville Kart Club.
Kyle's passion for driving has been the inspiration for becoming a driving instructor where he has an opportunity to impart his knowledge and skills of driving safely and effectively to future drivers.
Todd Barson
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0419163630
About: Todd has spent many years working in a retail environment prior to taking the plunge into driver training
Kylie Laffin
Driver Trainer
Phone: 0424159755
About: Kylie will be drafting an updated bio for the web in the coming weeks. Watch this space.